Chianti

Italy is known for some of the best wines in the world. Wine in Italy is common. Everyone drinks it and most families make it. You have world-renowned wines like Chianti, Barolo and Brunello. You have Prosecco, Italy’s fantastic sparkling wine. But each region of Italy specializes in different wine grapes and wines. Most small towns make local wine and serve it in restaurants and trattorias by the liter or half litter. Wine is a way of life in Italy.

Come join us as we celebrate the different wines of Italy in this YouTube video:

Everyone wants to go to Tuscany, Italy. It is home to the greatest Italian wines, great food and majestic cities. Great cities like Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Cortona and Montepulciano are located here. The road system is a good one with Italy’s main Autostrada, the A1, cutting through its center. The A1 can take you out of Tuscany north to Milan or south to Rome and Naples.

A drive along the A1 reveals hill-top cities everywhere. I just want to exit the highway and find my way up to a new small city on a hill-top. Come walk with us through some of Tuscany’s major cities and some fun ones. What ever your plans are: wine, food, old cities, museums, architecture or sheer beauty, it can be found here.

Click on the YouTube link below to visit Tuscany and some of its cities …

Italy is famous for its great wines.You can get very good wines in every region of Italy. Many are exported around the world. We know many of the more famous wines like Chianti, Brunelli, Barolo, Super Tuscany, Montepulciano, etc. These are very good and many are expensive. Italians love their wines. They have solved the problem of expensive wines or everyday use. What makes a wine expensive? The bottle, label, cork, foil and the wine itself. Suppose we bought just the wine! In Italy you can do this at most restaurants but also in bulk wine stores for home use.

These stores allow you to choose from several different whites and reds. They range from sweet to dry. You bring a bottle, carafe or even an empty water bottle and fill it. You can usually taste the ones before you buy them. In our area in southern Campania the bulk wine is sold for 2 Euros per liter. That is about $2,20 for a bottle and a third of wine. Not bad!

These stores are knowledgeable about wines and the local varieties that they sell. When we arrive at our Villa Velina we do several things. One is to stop at the wine store with an empty liter water bottle (or two) and buy some wine. I wish this was available in America.

We drove from Assisi to Cortona. Cortona was made famous by Frances Mayes and her book and movie Under the Tuscan Sun. Cortona is in the Province of Arezzo, region of Tuscany.There are 23,000 people there. It is a mountain town like so many small towns in Italy. Another town of small streets and many stairs.

The house that was in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun is there as well as the real house of Frances Mayes.

Our wonderful small hotel outside Cortona

Yes there are stairs

Looking into the Main piazza

The main piazza and church

The church steps where the Christmas scene took place in the movie

As we were having a glass of wine at an outdoor bar, we heard music

Suddenly a medieval band appeared

The King and Queen

Cortona is fun and alive. The small streets can get crowded as there are many tourists. Stop near the main piazza at a bar and have a drink or lunch and sit outside. You will feel the life of Cortona as it passes by. You may be as lucky as we were and see a medieval band march by.

Come for the romance, the food, the wine and the people. This is Tuscan wine country. It is not only Chianti but Montepulciano and Brunello. Stop at an enoteca (wine tasting) and try some Tuscan wines.

OK you know we love wine. George has enjoyed and collected the great French first growths and has sampled local wines all over Europe. Wine is a living thing and like our children, we never know how they will turn out. All you can do is raise them properly and give them love. Most of the time the wines turns our great but every once in a while you get a bad bottle. In Italy I find the local non bottled wines are very good. We have enjoyed many a meal with a half or full liter of wine. Italy also makes some great wines. Tuscany is most well-known in America for wines like Chianti, Barolo and Brunello. Brunello may be Italy’s best wine. It is expensive here but it is one of the great wines of the world.

The famous wines come from regions in Tuscany with one city at the center:

Chianti – This area is not a town but a wine growing region. It is near Sienna and San Gimignano.

Montalcino – This is a city famous for Italy’s great Brunello wine. It is located about one hour south of Siena. It is a mountain town that is fun to visit. Brunei flows here like water.

Montepulciano – This mountain town is known for the great Montepulciano wines. It is located about one hour south-east of Siena and about one hour East of Montalcino.

Wine tours in Tuscany lists 26 one day tours you can take. Wine is a staple of life in Europe. Children taste it and adults drink it at most meals. Enjoy your food with wine. Sip it and watch the locals go by. Life is slower in Italy. It’s about people, food, wine and of course love and romance. My only rule in Italy is to taste the local unbolted wines where ever I am. If I am in Tuscany I taste the Tuscan great wines. A great place to taste various local wines is in a local Enoteca. These are small wine tasting places that may have small plates of food as well. Enjoy!